Another Good Trick

Day 3

of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.
 
I have been working on several pieces today. Once in a while my 8-year old daughter came into my studio and gave me her opinion on things. I like her ideas and insights a lot. We talked about a certain piece I want to do and that I would like to incorporate a tiny drawing of hers. She agreed but said that she will have to buy it from me for five dollars. I guess, it's a deal.

Anyways, I finished this small piece today, inspired by what has been in the news. I have to be cute with my worries, otherwise I would just sit and cry.

"Another Good Trick"
Watercolor, ink, storybook clippings, on canvas panel, 5"x5"

Last Supper

Day 2

of the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge!

The chickens are having dinner, or better: One chicken is having dinner, while the others are serving - happily or not. Quite soon, they will all end up as dinner themselves, so their happiness and roles don't really matter - or do they?

By the way, I enjoyed including the little humpty dumpty here because he always reminds me of this very odd dream that I had just before I gave birth to my son Jacob ten years ago. I dreamed that I would give birth not to an actual baby but to a gigantic sperm cell with arms and legs. Hobby psychiatrists, feel free to analyze.

"Last Supper"
Watercolor, ink, storybook clippings on canvas panel, 12"x16"

Fortune

Day 1

So, I have signed up again for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge" hosted by artist Leslie Saeta. I really enjoyed doing it last year, it was a very intense and very valuable experience. I learned so much, I found my process and my style. And I will say, I have been quite successful ever since. I have sold nearly all of my 30 paintings and more, and I had the chance to have a few small pieces in a group exhibit a few months ago. Next Spring I am going to have a solo show even. And did I say, that I received an Honorary Mention for my sculpture "Undo?" Needless to say that all this makes me very happy. I am a visual writer, a storyteller, and I found my listeners. I found my art home, that's a good place to be.

Inspired by all this, I made "Fortune." For years I have been keeping this wisdom in my wallet that came from a fortune cookie: "Fear is just excitement in need of an attitude adjustment." This "fortune" - being in control of your fear - has got so relevant these days. To consider fear a rational choice and not an emotional state of mind, didn't quite occur to me before for some reason, at least I wasn't applying it to myself or my own life. I keep reminding myself.

"Fortune" - acrylics, ink, book clippings, fortune cookie fortune, on canvas panel, 12"x9".

Kaleidoscopes

My sample which I made for my recent
"Printmaking: Mandalas" summer art camp
(which I should have called "Kaleidoscopes").

My daughter Mona had her first day of school today. For all of us this is a very different kind of first day of school. Because Mona decided to leave the local Montessori School, the place where she and her older brother Jacob have been all their school lives. We love the Montessori concept and we love all the teachers at "our" Montessori school. It was convenient, too, having both kids at the same school. We know most families there, and for a few years I have been teaching art to the elementary and middle school kids.

However, when I was talking to Jacob and Mona about the different school options that are out there, Mona immediately said that she wanted to go to the public school. She loves the idea of trying something new, meeting new people, making new experiences and challenging herself in many ways. I thought that she may change her mind after a few weeks, but no, she didn't.

We all went to tour the school. Someone from the school office showed us the classrooms, the gym, the library, the detention room. Mona loved it, even the detention room. The school was in the middle of major constructions, heavy machines were sitting in the hallways, some floors looked shinier than others and were fenced off with stripy tape. Motivational sentences on the walls. It smelled differently.
Yes, that's what I want, Mom. I really really really love it. This is my school.

Mona's piece.

So we went to buy pencil toppers, wipes, and composition books. We filled out the enrollment forms and handed them to the school board officer who was sitting behind thick glass. And then we checked out the various khakis and poloshirts with their hardly noticeable individual details (which at  the end, make all the difference) and found that most of these uniform pieces looked odd and uncomfortable and not very flattering on my very slim Mona. I don't know why I was surprised.

Several times, Jacob said to his sister, you are so brave, I couldn't do it. I am not for change, I like things to be the same. Which is not really true. He just loves where he is right now, in every literal and not literal way. He is such a thinker and reader, his view of things, of the world, has been changing fast and profoundly. But he is probably not noticing his change because he has been doing his thinking and reading mainly in that same cheap collapsible black armchair that we bought a few years ago and which is close to falling apart any time very soon; only thin fibers are holding the seat and frame still together, sooner or later this chair will make him move to another place.

And Jacob's work.

Mona's change is much more visible. She has just discovered that she can and may choose her path. That it doesn't have to be the one that her older brother is walking, even if this path has proven to be a good one.

It's like turning kaleidoscopes at different speeds. No matter how fast they turn them, the reflections are in the bag, or better, in the tube.  And the patterns are constantly changing to something new and fascinating.

Breathe

I've just finished my third art camp of this season, and it feels like I am floating in a parallel world. Or better, I am diving in some water. Only once in a while I will come up to breathe and feel the warmth of the sun and then return to my life under the sea. 

I didn't teach any summer art camps last year, and I had completely forgotten how intense those can be. Part of that is that I usually teach classes that I haven't taught before.

Because I love coming up with new projects. Because I like to teach myself something new as well. New projects are a fun challenge but, of course, quite time-consuming too. Maybe I should take it easier, be more relaxed about everything.

But then, I want everyone who comes to my classes to have a valuable experience. I find it very rewarding to teach the kids (or adults) something new, to ignite something in them, and then to see them so proud of their skills and their works.

This is especially true when it comes to my 10-year old son. Jacob is an artist - in his own, unique, way. He has some terrific writing skills, and I love his witty cartoon drawings. He doesn't really like to deal with paints and brushes though, well, with things that are harder to control than pencils, and with projects that need a long time until they are finished.

My daughter Mona (8) is curious about all kinds of visual art, she is driven to master every medium, and I guess, sooner or later, she will.

Anyways, I have taken both my kids into my studio for all my camps this summer. I had to talk Jacob into the first one, but when I asked him to come to the second, and then the third, he said, what a weird question, Mom, of course I want to come, I love your camps. Okay.

So here are some pictures of my second art camp, "Insect Abstractions."

We worked on three projects to go from a realistic pencil drawing to a more abstract watercolor/ink drawing and then to an even more abstract oil pastel. For the last one we focused only on a detail of the particular insect.

The three moths are Jacob's, Mona made the beetles.

Feelers

Project 1: pencil drawing (in this case, a black leaf beetle)

I was teaching an art camp for kids at my studio last week, "Insect Abstractions." My idea was to do a variation of the O'Keeffe inspired classes that I had previously taught, to both kids and adults, and which always were fun to do and brought about stunning results.

For the insect camp I thought it would be interesting to first make a realistic pencil drawing of a particular bug, and then in two steps move more and more away from this realistic drawing by simplifying the image and exaggerating certain details.

Project 2: watercolor and ink drawing

Three projects in 15 hours, very doable. However, these kids loved to talk. About Pokemon characters, indispensible devices, and all those fidget spinners, about sad family matters, and, surprisingly, about Aerosmith.  Generally, I love when that happens. I mean, I love when people make connections in my studio. The socializing and connecting aspect I find as important as the art-making aspect, and it makes me happy to see this actually happening.

Anyways, these kids loved to talk, and some of them had a hard time finishing their projects. Two students promised me to finish their last pieces at home and to show them to me tomorrow.

Project 3: oil pastel

I am excited to share the works that were done in this camp very soon. They are quite fantastic.

Until then, these are just my samples.

It is Good

Celebration Ndebele Dolls (papermache)

I have been reading about the Ndebele tribe and found out that in their culture there is no superlative form of "good." In Ndebele, "good" is the label for both the barely good and the most good. There is no synonym for "good" either. So, if you want to say something positive about your day because you hit a jackpot of some sort or found the cure for a rare decease, you simply would say: I had a good day. The groom would tell his bride as soon as he sees her in all her stunning wedding gown beauty: You are looking good.

Ndebele House inspired papermache boxes

In my home country, Germany, "good" means "good." In the United States, however, "good" usually describes something mediocre or acceptable. People like to talk in superlatives here. Oh wow, this is terrific, amazing, gorgeous, excellent, superawesome and absolutely to die for. Isn't this the prettiest/cutest/most beautiful thing you've ever seen? So many words that make very clear that "good" is - by all means - not a good standard at all. There are exceptions alright, gnomes have good hearts, the jolly fellow is good, ice cream has good humor, and this bologna is still good even though it looks expired.

Mixed media warm-up project

Anyways, I have been trying to bring back the "good" into my life, especially since someone in this country has been overusing the "great," and I don't want to share his language or spirit.

Back to the Ndebele culture: Yesterday was the last day of my first art camp of this season, "Ndebele Houses." I had a very sweet group of kids between 8 and 11 years old, and I enjoyed the fun they had with each other and their projects. They all agreed that the Ndebele dolls were their favorite pieces. I can see why, kids love making creatures of any kind. They make them tell stories.